By Gloria Ikibah
The House of Representatives has begun deliberations on a new Electoral Act intended to guide the conduct of the 2027 general elections.
Proceedings were tense and disorderly for much of the session, with lawmakers frequently attempting to speak at the same time and repeatedly raising points of order, creating a noisy and charged atmosphere on the floor of the House. 
At the outset, members spent considerable time arguing over which sections of the bill should be examined and which should be set aside.
The deadlock was eventually resolved when the House agreed to focus on provisions recommended by the Committee on Electoral Matters.
One of the key decisions approved was that all pre-election disputes must be handled exclusively by the Federal High Court located in the state where the matter arises.
The chairman of the committee explained that the amendment is aimed at stopping the practice of transferring pre-election cases from their states of origin to the Federal Capital Territory or other states without proper jurisdiction.
However, sharp divisions emerged over a proposal seeking to disqualify any candidate found to have supplied false information regarding constitutional eligibility, along with the candidate’s political party. The provision sparked intense debate and strong opposition from several members, signalling further contention as deliberations continue.
Many of the lawmakers insisted that rather than disqualify the candidate and his party, and declaring the candidate with the next highest votes cast after the election as winner, INEC should be asked to conduct a fresh election excluding the candidate and his party.
Others insisted that the recommendations was apt as it makes it mandatory for the political parties to do due diligence before presenting any candidate for any election.
The also approved a jail term of five years for any returning officer who declare false results at an election and a ten year jail term for failing to record election results in a proscribed form, but went ahead to announce such result, while prescribing a two year jail term for a Resident Electoral Commissioners who fail to release Certified True Copies of election results.
The House however defered consideration of the report till Thursday for continuation.
